Digital Commons Network^™

The Dynamic Behavior Of A Solid State Transformer (Sst) During Recloser Operation In Distribution Systems, Fahd Amin Hariri

Masters Theses

"Electrical power systems are continuously facing increasing electrical power demand in the last years to meet the requirements of modern life style. In order to satisfy such needs electricity authorities are taking appropriate measures to enhance the performance of power networks. One of the solutions to meet the customer's demands for energy was the trend to use the renewable energy. The increasing use of renewable energy and other distributed generation sources made the electrical grid more complex. Many researches have been carried out to find out solutions to overcome this complexity. One of these researches -- which was on a …

Design And Implementation Of Low Complexity Wake-Up Receiver For Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks, Ming Yue

Masters Theses

"This thesis designs a low-complexity dual Pseudorandom Noise (PN) scheme for identity (ID) detection and coarse frame synchronization. The two PN sequences for a node are identical and are separated by a specified length of gap which serves as the ID of different sensor nodes. The dual PN sequences are short in length but are capable of combating severe underwater acoustic (UWA) multipath fading channels that exhibit time varying impulse responses up to 100 taps. The receiver ID detection is implemented on a microcontroller MSP430F5529 by calculating the correlation between the two segments of the PN sequence with the specified …

Dependability Analysis And Recovery Support For Smart Grids, Isam Abdulmunem Alobaidi

Masters Theses

"The increasing scale and complexity of power grids exacerbate concerns about failure propagation. A single contingency, such as outage of a transmission line due to overload or weather-related damage, can cause cascading failures that manifest as blackouts. One objective of smart grids is to reduce the likelihood of cascading failure through the use of power electronics devices that can prevent, isolate, and mitigate the effects of faults. Given that these devices are themselves prone to failure, we seek to quantify the effects of their use on dependability attributes of smart grid. This thesis articulates analytical methods for analyzing two dependability …

Fault Interpretation And Reservoir Characterization Of The Farewell Formation Within Kerry Field, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Waleed Deefallah M Alotaby

Masters Theses

"The Kerry Field, located in the southern offshore Taranaki Basin, is a large liquid-rich gas accumulation with a thin (20 m) oil rim. The field was discovered by the New Zealand Oil & Gas in 1986 (well Kupe South-1). The gas and oil are trapped within a 9.2 km² fault-dependent three-way dip closure in the Paleocene Farewell Formation reservoir. Pressure, volume, and temperature (PVT) data indicate that the gas and oil columns in the field are in equilibrium with one another and are saturated at current reservoir conditions.

The Farewell Formation is the uppermost formation of the Kapuni Group …

Seismic Structural Investigation And Reservoir Characterization Of The Moki Formation In Maar Field, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Mohammed Dhaifallah M Alotaibi

Masters Theses

"The Maari Field is a large oil field located in the southern part of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. The field is bounded by two major structures, the Eastern Mobile Belt and Western Stable Platform. The Maari Field produces 40,000 BOPD (Barrels of Oil per Day) from five wells from reservoirs in the Moki Formation. The Miocene Moki Formation was deposited as part of the Wai-iti Group and consists of sandstone interbedded with siltstone and claystone. The sandstone of the Moki Formation is characterized by a submarine fan. It is distributed along the southern and central Taranaki shelf. Three-dimensional seismic …

An Improved Planar Cavity Model For Dielectric Characterization, Benjamin Jay Conley

Masters Theses

"Accurate characterization of the dielectric properties of the laminate materials used in printed circuit board fabrication is critical for maximizing the performance of modern high speed circuitry. While many techniques exist for characterizing dielectric materials, most existing techniques are either limited in accuracy or highly impractical for use with planar, copper-clad laminate sheets. A common method involves forming a cavity from the printed circuit board material and calculating the permittivity and dissipation factor from the measured resonant frequencies and quality factor of the cavity. This resonance technique makes the assumption of an ideal cavity, which leads to errors in both …

Utilizing Learning Style Preferences And Quality Function Deployment For Curriculum Development, Julie M. Ezzell

Masters Theses

"Workplace requirements continually evolve to keep pace with the developing global market. To meet ever increasing standards, educational institutions have been investigating methods to prepare students for their future employment. Course modifications should be carefully considered to meet the requirements of all stakeholders, including those of the students. The objective of this research was to provide students with an overall better learning experience that tailors the teaching methods to his/her individual learning preferences. To meet this objective, a comprehensive survey was provided to an undergraduate course in quality. The survey documented the student's individuality when learning and made note of …

Synthesis Of Different Sizes & Functions Nanoparticles, Jiaming Geng

Masters Theses

"Nanogels, whose size range from 1 to 100nm, have been interested in many research areas: cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, catalysts, photochemistry, and in optical switches or sensors. In Petroleum Engineering area, nanogels can be used as conformance control agent and emulsion stabilizer. And after grafting functional groups or hybrid, nanogels can be used as tracer for the visual modeling.

Though nanoparticles have been studied for more than 20 years, few of them are about nanogels. In the thesis, stirring rate, surfactant type and concentration were found have a large impact on the synthesis of nanogels. And cationic nanogels have salt and acid …

Emission Source Microscopy Applications On Emi Source Localization And Emi Mitigation With Lossy Materials, Xiangyang Jiao

Masters Theses

"In Section 1, the emission source microscopy (ESM) methodology will be introduced and used to identify the sources of radiation on different DUTs. As the new technology generation, the integration density and the operating speed of integrated circuits have been increasing steadily. However, root cause diagnostics to locate the source of EMI radiation is more problematic in the complex system. The ESM technique provides a powerful tool to detect and characterize the active sources of radiation. The amplitude and phase of fields are measured on a plane away from the DUT, and this measurement can get rid of the evanescent …

An Investigation Of Shear-Friction Of Lightweight Aggregate Concretes, Kristian Krc

Masters Theses

"This thesis reports the results of research initiated to evaluate the influence of lightweight aggregate type and casting procedure on shear transfer across an interface of concretes cast at different times. The topic of shear transfer has been evaluated and revisited in recent PCI Design Handbooks. In this test program, a series of cold joint as well as monolithic specimens are evaluated. The peak shear strength and post peak behavior are examined. The experimental matrix included 28 push-off specimens that were either cast monolithically or cast at different times creating the condition referred to as a cold joint. The variables …

Space-Based Relative Multitarget Tracking, Keith Allen Legrand

Masters Theses

"Access to space has expanded dramatically over the past decade. The growing popularity of small satellites, specifically cubesats, and the following launch initiatives have resulted in exponentially growing launch numbers into low Earth orbit. This growing congestion in space has punctuated the need for local space monitoring and autonomous satellite inspection. This work describes the development of a framework for monitoring local space and tracking multiple objects concurrently in a satellite's neighborhood. The development of this multitarget tracking systems has produced collateral developments in numerical methods, relative orbital mechanics, and initial relative orbit determination.

This work belongs to a class …

Multi-Objective Optimal Dispatch Of Distributed Energy Resources, Ayomide Longe

Masters Theses

"This thesis is composed of two papers which investigate the optimal dispatch for distributed energy resources. In the first paper, an economic dispatch problem for a community microgrid is studied. In this microgrid, each agent pursues an economic dispatch for its personal resources. In addition, each agent is capable of trading electricity with other agents through a local energy market. In this paper, a simple market structure is introduced as a framework for energy trades in a small community microgrid such as the Solar Village. It was found that both sellers and buyers benefited by participating in this market. In …

Investigation Of Decoupling Capacitor Connection Methods Using Peec And Study Of Alien Crosstalk From A Broadr-Reach® Protocol Based System, Tamar Makharashvili

Masters Theses

"Power Distribution Network (PDN) for Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design requires proper power integrity analysis. In order to deliver a low-ripple DC voltage from a Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) to an Integrated Circuit (IC), a certain target input impedance should be achieved. Developing simple physics-based equivalent circuit models are essential for understanding how a system works and making crucial design decisions. In this work, the input impedance of a decoupling capacitor due to traces, pads and via discontinuities are investigated using the Physics-based Model Size Reduction (PMSR) method. Various decoupling capacitor connection methods are compared and design guidelines are provided …

Hyper-Heuristics For The Automated Design Of Black-Box Search Algorithms, Matthew Allen Martin

Masters Theses

"Within the field of Black-Box Search Algorithms (BBSAs), there is a focus on improving algorithm performance over increasingly diversified problem classes. However, these general purpose problem solvers have no guarantee to perform well on an arbitrary problem class that a practitioner needs to solve. The problem classes that the research in this thesis most applies to are difficult problems that are going to be solved multiple times. BBSAs tailored to one of these problem class can be expected to significantly outperform the more general purpose problem solvers, including canonical Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). The first paper in this thesis explores a …

Design And Implementation Of A Broker For Cloud Additive Manufacturing Services, Venkata Prashant Modekurthy

Masters Theses

"The growing number of cloud Additive Manufacturing (AM) services, offered by different providers over the Internet, makes it challenging for consumers to compare these cloud AM services to select a service of their choice. In addition, it is even more challenging for consumers to compare these cloud AM services against their personal preferences. This is because, consumers personal preferences on multiple service attributes such as price, material, accuracy, and schedule, should be considered for cloud AM service selection. The decentralized nature of these cloud AM services coupled by the need to consider consumers personal preferences during cloud AM service selection, …

Cyber Security Research Frameworks For Coevolutionary Network Defense, George Daniel Rush

Masters Theses

"Cyber security is increasingly a challenge for organizations everywhere. Defense systems that require less expert knowledge and can adapt quickly to threats are strongly needed to combat the rise of cyber attacks. Computational intelligence techniques can be used to rapidly explore potential solutions while searching in a way that is unaffected by human bias.

Several architectures have been created for developing and testing systems used in network security, but most are meant to provide a platform for running cyber security experiments as opposed to automating experiment processes. In the first paper, we propose a framework termed Distributed Cyber Security Automation …

Detection And Cancellation Of Sinusoidal Fading Power Variation In Wireless Communication Systems, Sushruth Sastry

Masters Theses

"Fading channel estimation in wireless communication systems depends on an expected model for fading and any assumptions made about the channel itself. The bit error rate (BER) performance of the communication system is affected by how closely these assumptions made in designing the estimation technique match the deployment environment. Any unforeseen disturbances or hindrances in the environment deteriorate the BER performance of the system when the estimation system is not designed to combat such disturbances. To deal with such unforeseen obstacles, additional mathematical models can be proposed to model such disturbances and then the estimation techniques can either be reinforced …

A New Equivalent Dipole-Moment Source Reconstruction Method For Ic Radiated Emissions Based On Near-Field Scanning, Xiao Ren

Masters Theses

"In this paper, a new dipole-moment model based on near-field scanning for representing equivalent IC radiation emissions on a PCB (Print Circuit Board) is presented. One set of dipoles (both electric dipoles and magnetic dipoles) are used to characterize near-field and far-field radiation from the source. In order to build the model, tangential electric field and magnetic field on a Huygens's box enclosing the radiation source are needed. Both the phase and magnitude of these tangential fields are obtained either in simulation or in measurement by near-field scanning method. Two steps are established to reconstruct the dipole moment. Firstly, a …

Advanced Sustainable Concrete Materials For Infrastructure Applications, Kaylea Ann Smith

Masters Theses

"This study was performed to examine the effects of cement replaced by high volumes of Class C fly-ash on durability characteristics of concrete up to 120 days. Specifically, this study investigates possibility of amending American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to allow High Volume Fly-ash (HVFA) concrete to cure until later ages prior to testing instead of 28 days. Five mix designs were compared with varying fly-ash percentages from 0 to 70% (by total cementitious mass). No other additives were present in any of the five mix designs. Water-to-cementitious ratio (w/cm) and total cementitious material remained constant as 0.40 …

A Geochemical Investigation Of Co₂ Sequestration And Site Characterization At Two Missouri Locations, Robert Allen Swain

Masters Theses

"The feasibility of sequestering CO₂ in saline aquifers of Lamotte Formation sandstone was investigated at wells located near Thomas Hill power plant, Moberly, MO and Sioux City Power Plant in Florissant, MO. Governing factors of using aquifers for CO₂ disposal include water salinity, potential for carbonic acid buffering, rate of precipitation of carbonate minerals following CO₂ introduction into the host aquifer, and the integrity of the Davis and Derby-DoeRun shale as a trap rock to prevent migration of the CO₂ phase and carbonic acid into the overlying potable Ozark Aquifer.

Both in situ and laboratory methods …

A Subband Kalman Filter For Echo Cancellation, Rakesh Vijayakumar

Masters Theses

"This thesis involves the implementation of a Kalman filter for the application of echo cancellation. This particular Kalman filter is implemented in the frequency domain, in subbands, so as to make it faster and of lesser calculational complexity for real time applications. To evaluate the functioning of this subband Kalman filter, comparison of the performance of the subband Kalman filter is done with respect to the original time domain Kalman filter, and also with other subband adaptive filters for echo cancellation such as the NLMS filter. Additionally, since background noise affects the working of any adaptive filter, the newly developed …

Uncertainty Quantification Of Turbulence Model Closure Coefficients For Transonic Wall-Bounded Flows, John Anthony Schaefer

Masters Theses

"The goal of this work was to quantify the uncertainty and sensitivity of commonly used turbulence models in Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes codes due to uncertainty in the values of closure coefficients for transonic, wall-bounded flows and to rank the contribution of each coefficient to uncertainty in various output flow quantities of interest. Specifically, uncertainty quantification of turbulence model closure coefficients was performed for transonic flow over an axisymmetric bump at zero degrees angle of attack and the RAE 2822 transonic airfoil at a lift coefficient of 0.744. Three turbulence models were considered: the Spalart-Allmaras Model, Wilcox (2006) k-ω Model, and the …

Shear-Friction Of Sand-Lightweight Clay And Slate Aggregate Concretes With Varied Reinforcement Ratios, Samantha Lynn Wermager

Masters Theses

"This thesis focuses on the structural properties of sand-lightweight aggregate concrete in terms of shear transfer strength at cold-joint interfaces. This type of interface is common for precast concrete connections which are typically designed using the shear-friction concept. This testing program was meant to expand the shear-friction database and evaluate the appropriateness of current shear-friction design provisions with respect to sand-lightweight concrete. This study builds on the work done by Shaw (2013) who studied lightweight expanded shale aggregate concrete. The current study included thirty-two push-off specimens constructed from sand-lightweight concrete with a target compressive strength of 5,000 psi. Either expanded …

Steam Flooding Screening And Eor Prediction By Using Clustering Algorithm And Data Visualization, Na Zhang

Masters Theses

"Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques are vitally important in the oil industry because these techniques could not only extend the life of wells, but also produce 10% to 30% additional oil from the reservoir. However, selecting the most suitable EOR techniques for unknown reservoirs is not easy for decision making. Based on literature, EOR screening criteria could help to find the best candidates for unknown projects, which is classified into two categories: conventional EOR screening and advanced EOR screening. In this research, an artificial intelligent (AI) method, hierarchical clustering algorithm, is adapted to analyze both steam flooding projects and worldwide …

Parameter Determination And Experimental Validation Of A Wire Feed Additive Manufacturing Model, Kannan Suresh Kumar

Masters Theses

“Laser metal deposition is an additive manufacturing method with great scope and robustness. The wire fed additive manufacturing method has great opportunities in space applications and other zero gravity manufacturing processes. Process parameters play an important role in controlling the complex phenomenon and obtaining an ideal manufactured part. These parameters can be efficiently determined using simulation tools which are highly essential in visualizing real world experiments, therefore saving time and experimental costs. The objective of this study is to develop a transient 3D model of laser aided wire feed metal deposition which realizes the heat transfer and fluid flow behavior …

Estimation Of Tip-Sample Force In Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy Using Neural-Network And Repetitive Control Approaches, Alireza Toghraee

Masters Theses

"Atomic Force Microscopy is one of the most powerful tools for imaging, measuring and manipulating materials at nanometer scale. Among different modes of AFM, tapping mode, in which the oscillating tip touches the sample periodically, is most common mode. During the tip approach and retract, the tip interacts with sample and experiences different force regimes. This tip-sample interaction force contains information about the sample topology, material properties and tip geometry. However, quantitative measurement of the time-varying tip-sample interaction forcing function is challenging in the tapping mode because of the combined dynamic complexities of the cantilever and nonlinear complexity of the …

Paleogeographic And Paleoenvironmental Evolution Of Lacustrine And Fluvial Upper Triassic Zhangjiatan Shale Sequence, Ordos Basin, China, Qiuwan Yu

Masters Theses

"Detailed sequence stratigraphic and depositional systems analyses can effectively delineate factors and processes controlling deposition of fine-grained lacustrine sediments. Upper Triassic Zhangjiatan (ZJT) Shale Bed and adjacent strata in Ordos foreland basin was used as an example. A new depositional sequence model shows that the maximum regressive shoreline was more landward than that at the lowest lake-level. The study area is on the ramp margin, covering 100x90 km². Thin sections, cores and well-logs of 80 wells are used to calibrate log signatures, document lithofacies, and interpret depositional facies in a sequence stratigraphic context. The entire sequence thickens from …

Discrete-Time Neural Network Based State Observer With Neural Network Based Control Formulation For A Class Of Systems With Unmatched Uncertainties, Jason Michael Stumfoll

Masters Theses

"An observer is a dynamic system that estimates the state variables of another system using noisy measurements, either to estimate unmeasurable states, or to improve the accuracy of the state measurements. The Modified State Observer (MSO) is a technique that uses a standard observer structure modified to include a neural network to estimate system states as well as system uncertainty. It has been used in orbit uncertainty estimation and atmospheric reentry uncertainty estimation problems to correctly estimate unmodeled system dynamics. A form of the MSO has been used to control a nonlinear electrohydraulic system with parameter uncertainty using a simplified …

On-Die Sensors For Transient Events, Mihir Vimal Suchak

Masters Theses

"Failures caused by transient electromagnetic events like Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) are a major concern for embedded systems. The component often failing is an integrated circuit (IC). Determining which IC is affected in a multi-device system is a challenging task. Debugging errors often requires sophisticated lab setups which require intentionally disturbing and probing various parts of the system which might not be easily accessible. Opening the system and adding probes may change its response to the transient event, which further compounds the problem.

On-die transient event sensors were developed that require relatively little area on die, making them inexpensive, they consume …

Aerial Vehicle Trajectory Design For Spatio-Temporal Task Satisfaction And Aggregation Based On Utility Metric, Amarender Reddy Mekala

Masters Theses

"Flight trajectories are mainly designed in order to make sure that the aerial vehicle reaches the destination point from the start point. In addition to that, the flight path is designed in such a way that the flight avoids dangerous zones and the maneuvers required for the path are practically feasible for the flight.

This thesis focuses on the aerial vehicle trajectory generation passing through a set of pre-defined way points while satisfying the task points sent by the ground base station in between the way points. Each specified waypoint is reached exactly at the specified location and time. Intermediate …